The longhorn from Texas populated the Montana ranges that Russell knew as a young cowhand, but after 1888 the north-flowing stream of longhorns was reduced to a trickle as the long trails began to be fenced across or simply plowed under. Even so, historians have estimated that as many as ten million head of cattle made their way to the northern ranges between 1866 and 1890. By the end of the century, the longhorn had been replaced by hybrid animals more suited to fenced-in ranges and regulated growth. For Russell, the longhorn represented the West that had passed, and he worshipped the animal as the lifeblood of the open-range cattle industry, of which he had been a part. This small, finely modeled head of a longhorn was done at some point as a souvenir portrait that eventually found its way into the Mint Saloon collection in Great Falls. The animal’s head was fashioned from beeswax to which some red color and linseed oil had been added. The animal’s eyes are small beads of black glass, taken from a necklace that still exists in fragments in the artist’s studio. Perhaps most surprisingly, the steer’s horns appear to be actual rooster spurs; Russell kept a henhouse on his property, so the natural materials would have been readily available. The steer’s head was then seamlessly molded onto an oval plaster base so it could be hung on the wall. Russell’s signature and trademark skull are prominently displayed on the edge of the work.